The Good Life - Series 1 Ep 01 - 1975

The good life is a british sitcom produced by bbc television it ran from 4 april 1975 to 10 june 1978 on bbc 1 and was written by bob larbey and john esmonde opening with the midlife crisis of tom good a 40 year old plastics designer it relates the joys and miseries he and his wife barbara experience when they attempt to escape modern commercial living by becoming totally self sufficient in their home in surbiton in 2004 it came 9th in britain s best sitcom in the united states it aired on various pbs stations under the title good neighbors john esmonde and bob larbey wrote the good life for richard briers the only cast member who was well known before the series was broadcast larbey and esmonde were inspired by larbey s 40th birthday which seemed to them a milestone in most people s lives their story has the goods decision to pursue self sufficiency conflicting sharply with the habits of the leadbetters who live next door the conflict between the neighbours balanced with an increasingly close friendship creates comic tension as that friendship is tried to its limits peter bowles was originally cast to play jerry but was unavailable he later starred opposite penelope keith in to the manor born hannah gordon was considered for the role of barbara but was ruled out having recently played a similar role in the bbc sitcom my wife next door esmonde and larbey chose felicity kendal and penelope keith after seeing them on stage together in the norman conquests outdoor filming took place in the northern greater london suburb of northwood although the series was set in surbiton south western greater london the producers searched extensively for a suitable pair of houses eventually chancing on kewferry road northwood the grounds of the goods house were returned to their original state after the filming of each series inserts and all livestock removed at the end of each day s filming #Jeremy Leadbetter #Margo Leadbetter #Paul Eddington #Felicity Kendal #Moyra Fraser